Consumer product companies, stable stocks but less likely to rise in a frothy market, have lagged the S&P 500 so far this year. Investors who’ve ridden riskier stocks year-to-date might be thinking of switching into these shares, and they’re getting some encouragement along those lines.

Which makes one wonder: are there less pricey alternatives? Rather than go down-market in consumer goods, let’s look at two old war houses of technology, Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC). Microsoft’s PE and Intel’s PE are far lower than the consumer product makers.

And despite the low PEs, Microsoft and Intel have been huge gainers so far this year, as they’ve enjoyed reappraisals by some investors who’d earlier written them off as old hat. They each generate huge cash flow and strong margins and they’re investing heavily to lessen their reliance on the aging personal computer business.